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Morcombe trial draws to a close

A Brisbane court is about to hear the final words to be spoken in defence of the man accused of killing Queensland schoolboy Daniel Morcombe.

Brett Peter Cowan’s lawyer began summing up the defence case on Monday, urging jurors not to be overwhelmed by his client’s confessions about killing the 13-year-old.

Defence barrister Angus Edwards said prosecutors had failed to disprove the involvement of convicted pedophile Douglas Jackway, whose past crimes mirrored the circumstances of the Morcombe case.

Mr Edwards said jurors must see Cowan’s confessions for what they were – false statements intended to win the trust of a fake criminal gang that was actually a band of undercover police.

Mr Edwards will conclude his final remarks on Tuesday. Supreme Court Justice Roslyn Atkinson will then give her final directions to the jury before they retire to consider their verdict.

Cowan, 44, has pleaded not guilty to murder, indecent treatment of a child and interfering with a corpse.

Prosecutors have told the court Cowan’s confessions about killing the boy during an an attempt to molest him are compelling, and a person would not admit to such a serious crime lightly.

They say suggestions of Jackway’s involvement are a distraction and there’s no evidence to put Jackway at the scene of Daniel’s disappearance.

Daniel vanished from an unofficial bus stop under the Kiel Mountain Road overpass in the Sunshine Coast hinterland on the afternoon of December 7, 2003.

He’d been his way to a shopping centre to get a haircut and buy Christmas presents for his family.

His remains were found in nearby bushland in August 2011, along with remnants of clothing.

The trial resumes at 10am (AEST).

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